Rayleigh noticed Creed and smiled. "Didn't expect anyone else to make it to Skypiea besides me."
"I'm the one surprised. The Pirate King's first mate… Dark King Rayleigh. Didn't expect to see you here."
Rayleigh raised a brow, surprised Creed recognized him. "How do you know who I am?"
Only the Marines' top brass and those of his era knew his face.
"My grandfather is Garp," Creed replied, throwing the blame onto him.
Rayleigh nodded, a trace of nostalgia in his eyes. "So that old man Garp has a grandson now, huh?"
"But you've lived up to his name, boy."
He could sense Creed's sharp sword aura—familiar, since he'd trained Shanks himself.
Staring at the Poneglyph, Rayleigh's eyes grew distant. "When a man grows old, he spends his time drowning in memories…"
Twelve years ago, the Roger Pirates had also reached Skypiea, and discovered the City of Gold.
They drank and cheered beneath the Golden Bell, celebrating wildly.
Roger himself had inscribed a message beside the Poneglyph.
It had been the brightest memory of their youth.
"Well, I'll be going. Been away from Sabaody for some time—visited Loguetown to pay my respects, then came here. Time I head back, before the Marines start losing sleep again."
Rayleigh rose, bottle in hand, and departed.
…
After he left, Creed stepped before the Poneglyph. Beside it were the words Roger had left.
He couldn't read them—same ancient script as the Poneglyph itself, indecipherable.
After wandering the city for a while longer, they left Shandora behind.
Not a single piece of gold was touched. To Creed, treasures left by history had no need to be destroyed.
And money meant little to them.
If he truly wanted gold…
Creed narrowed his eyes. He remembered a certain floating nation upon the seas, overflowing with it.
…
Two days later, Creed and Ain finished their stay in Skypiea, picking up some dials and local specialties.
They visited Birka's royal palace, asking the king about the Cloud River Route.
After securing a pass, they brought their ship to its gates.
At the edge of the White-White Sea, a massive gate awaited. The entrance to the Cloud River Route.
They handed over the pass.
The gate opened, and their ship sailed inside.
The Cloud River Route was formed entirely of dense cloud, like a colossal slide spiraling downward.
Shhhhhh!
Water pressure surged.
Like a ride in a waterpark, their ship shot forward at blinding speed, plunging into the cloud-slide.
Weightlessness hit them, thrilling and tense, as they dropped.
…
Half an hour later…
They reached the end of the route. Another gate—this one the exit.
Whoosh!
The ship burst through, plummeting straight down.
A dense cloud rose beneath, cradling their vessel and slowing its fall.
A minute later, they broke through into the Blue Sea.
Below stretched an endless desert—Alabasta.
Its capital, Alubarna, held a massive palace complex, where King Cobra and his ministers sat in council.
"Y-Your Majesty… i-is that a ship falling from the sky?" a minister stammered, staring upward.
"Ridiculous. A ship in the sky? You're overworked—"
But when he looked up, his eyes widened, tongue twisting. "Th-there really is… a ship!"
The councilors rubbed their eyes furiously, thinking they were hallucinating.
But it was real.
Cobra himself looked, his pupils contracting to pinpoints.
Everyone sat frozen, mouths gaping wide enough to swallow an egg.
Whistle—BOOM!!!
The ship slammed into the ground outside the capital.
The earth quaked, sand exploded upward, dust clouds blanketed the sky.
The officials gawked at the chaos. "It… it really is a ship that fell from the sky…"
Then, from within the smoke and clouds of sand—
"Hello! Can you tell me where this is?"
A voice rang out.
…
(End of Chapter)
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